


Spirited Away

by PrairieDawn



Series: Extended Meatballverse [7]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Disappearance, Meatballverse, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26848582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrairieDawn/pseuds/PrairieDawn
Summary: Missing scene from Meatball Surgery Shouldn't Be GreenIt was supposed to be a few hours babysitting the bridge while the senior officers attended a formal affair on Earth.  It didn't turn out that way.
Series: Extended Meatballverse [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1100532
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Spirited Away

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Sulu, Transporter Malfunction, "engines"
> 
> I keep ending up back here.

Hikaru perched in the captain’s chair, allowing himself for a moment to imagine some day in the future when he might earn a command of his own. For now, borrowing the chair for the few hours the captain and first officer were attending a dull, formal treaty signing in Tokyo would have to do.

The turbolift doors opened, admitting the Captain in his dress uniform. Kirk circled the bridge briskly, scanning the floor, the consoles, Sulu in his chair. He stopped in front of the chair. “Out, out,” he said distractedly, waving his hand.

Hikaru leaped out of the chair. “Something the matter, Captain?”

Kirk searched the seat for a moment, then shot out a hand to snatch something from the crease between the cushion and the arm. He pinned the decorations to his chest without looking. “Wouldn’t want to insult a bunch of Admirals by not showing off the medals they gave me,” he said wryly. “Don’t take her on any joyrides while I’m gone.”

“Wouldn’t think of it, Captain.”

Kirk jogged back to the turbolift, leaving the Beta shift crew on the bridge. Hikaru took a moment to walk the perimeter himself, just in case anything else had fallen off the Captain’s dress uniform while he was rushing around.

The viewscreen flickered for a fraction of a second. An alarm went off on Chekov’s console. “Sensors just picked up an energy pulse.”

“Characterize it and give me a report,” Hikaru began but was interrupted by the comm on the Captain’s chair.

“Commander Sulu!” The voice was young and just this side of panic. He leaned over the side of the Captain’s chair to look at the display on the arm. Transporter Room One.

Hikaru opened a channel. “Captain lose something else?”

“Sir, we’ve lost them.”

“Lost what?”

“I beamed Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Doctor McCoy to Transporter Pad Four at Tokyo Interplanetary. They never arrived.”

Hikaru’s first instinct was to bolt off the bridge and down to the transporter room. He forced it down. “Mr. Ewal, have you informed Mr. Scott?”

“Yes sir, he’s on the way.”

“Good. Make sure they lock down pad four at the spaceport. Did they--” he paused to swallow. “Is there biological residue on our pad or the spaceport’s?”

“Nothing macroscopic sir.”

“Scotty will know what to do at our end. Just do what he says.” He turned back to the bridge crew. “Chekov, start scanning for cloaked vessels. Riley, pull up sensor records on local traffic. Look for unexplained power surges. Uhura, get me Tokyo.”

What else, what else...right. “Sickbay.”

“M’Benga here.”

“Looks like we’ve had some kind of transporter malfunction. The captain, XO, and CMO never made it to Tokyo and there’s no sign of in-transit disintegration. I need you on the ground with a forensics team. Grab whoever you want and get down there.” He stopped to think for a moment. “Take a shuttle.”

“Yes, sir.” The channel cut off.

Uhura cut in. “Sir, I have Tokyo on the line.”

“On screen.”

A middle-aged woman appeared on his screen. She turned her head to shout over her shoulder, “I want air samples and surface swabs, and I want to know the cause of the temperature drop ASAP!” She turned back to face Captain Sulu.

“Riki Matsushita. There’s no sign of them. No bioresidue, no transiting matter stream, nothing.”

“We observed a suspicious energy signature around the time of transit. Suspect a hostile interception.”

Matsushita nodded curtly. “Understood.”

“I’m sending a team to work with you. Is the Sol System locked down?”

“Not that I know of.”

It was time for Hikaru to turn away from their conversation. “Uhura, send a Priority One message to Starfleet Command. Suspect personnel abduction, recommend system lockdown.”

There was a short pause, then Uhura acknowledged, “Message sent.”

He turned back to Matsushita. “You were collecting samples. What do you know from your end?”

“The transport aborted just as final solidification was occurring. At that moment, the temperature on the pad dropped eight degrees and the transporter technician noticed a faint, acrid odor. We took samples for analysis immediately.”

“We’d like copies of your data and some of the samples to analyze.”

“I’ll check with my supervisor.”

“No, you’ll give them to me. That’s my captain who just went missing. My team should be arriving shortly. Sulu out.”

Uhura cut the connection. “Sir, Starfleet Command is taking your suggestion to lock down the system under advisement.”

“Meaning they’re not going to do it.” He punched the back of the Captain’s chair. “Chekov, siphon off some of the data you’re going over and send it to my datapad. It will go faster if we’re both on it.” Not to mention Hikaru needed to be doing something constructive or he would just pace holes into the deck plates.

The clock was ticking. The longer they were gone, the less chance they would ever be found. Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Doctor McCoy would never give up on him if he were in a tight spot. He was not giving up on them until he knew beyond a doubt what had happened to them, no matter what Starfleet might say. He hit his comm again.

“Transporter Room One, Scott here.”

“Mr. Scott, I recall you describing a disturbing phase variance in the engines. Keep a close eye on that and let me know if you need to take them offline.”

After a moment, Scott replied, “Aye, that I will. It would be a shame if the ship were stuck in Earth orbit, but if it comes to that I’m sure we’ll manage.” And Hikaru was sure Scotty would ensure they remained in Earth orbit until their senior officers were found


End file.
